Uverse Internet new activation not working

[sapling]

My activation date was scheduled for today (Wed, Oct 10th). I plugged in my modem at 8pm and followed the instructions, but the DSL light continued flashing red. Power is solid green, Local Ethernet is mostly solid with a few flickers. Let it go for about 30 minutes, but it never connected. Cycled the power a couple times and tried it with and without the phone line filter.

I only have one phone jack in my apartment (it's a house that's been converted into 2 units - I'm in the basement), so I can't try another jack. Do I have to call in to get it checked or could someone from here look into it? (I have not had the best experience with AT&T phone customer service - last time I got ping ponged around for 2 hours trying to get my DSL fixed - so I'd really prefer to avoid calling in if possible).

My order status is Completed when I check online, so I'm assuming it's actually been activated and this isn't just indicating the modem shipment was delivered. However when I try to link my new Uverse account to my existing master account with my Wireless, it tells me it can't be linked till the order is completed so... I don't even know.

Thanks for any assistance.

[GeekBoy]

From your discussion, I'm guessing that you ordered a "customer self-install" option?  If you did, were you home when the technician came to the house and did the outside work in your NID?  If you were, did you ask him which "pair" was live for your U-Verse signal?  If you weren't, did they leave any information for you?  I ask about the "active pair" because according to the tech who was out to do the outside work at my self-install last year had told me that they are not allowed to connect the home internal wiring unless they are there for the full technician install.  They will tell you which pair to connect, and where to connect them if you are present when they do their work, but they don't actually connect the wires in the NID to the wires in your house...

[sapling]

No, I was not there (I assumed I didn't need to be since it was a self-install)... The technician left no information (or even record of his presence), and the other tenant is out of town for a month, so I know he didn't talk to them. 

I have no idea how to connect a pair or even where to start (I just moved into this house) - it seems this would be fairly critical information to provide if it's required as part of the self-install? Do they just expect you to call in and then they tell you over the phone?

[JefferMC ACE - Wizard]

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sapling wrote:

No, I was not there (I assumed I didn't need to be since it was a self-install)... The technician left no information (or even record of his presence), and the other tenant is out of town for a month, so I know he didn't talk to them. 

I have no idea how to connect a pair or even where to start (I just moved into this house) - it seems this would be fairly critical information to provide if it's required as part of the self-install? Do they just expect you to call in and then they tell you over the phone?

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They probably didn't note that in the ticket. Or it may be that the tech didn't get around to your house before 8:00 PM yesterday.

To use a different pair, you would either have re-wire the wall jack or make a custom patch cable.  If you have a breakout box and a volt meter, you should be able to identify the live pair.  There are only four to choose from and you've already eliminated one. 

[sapling]

So, I'm not too technically savvy when it comes to hardware. Would the breakout box be on the outside of the house? I don't have a voltmeter.

I can't make too many modifications to the house since I'm just a renter. When you say rewire the jack, do you just mean reconnect that jack in the breakout box to a different pair? (I'm not even entirely sure what a 'pair' is - I'm assuming just a wire or set of wires coming in from the street to the box.)

I guess I'm just a little surprised no one mentions this as part of installation when signing up. Do they just assume you'll call them to come fix it and they can charge you for it? I probably would have gone with Comcast if I realized it was going to be this big of an issue plus additional installation fees if a tech has to come out to rewire my house. I've had AT&T DSL in 3 different cities in the past 8 years; self-install for DSL just meant 'plug in the modem'. 

[JefferMC ACE - Wizard]

When we say "pair" we mean a pair of wires in the phone cable that goes through the walls of your apartment building from the NID on the back to the jack where you're supposed to be able to connect your modem.

I guess I should say that I don't really know what the default configuration is for a self-installed customer.  I thought that the pair normally wired to the center two connectors in the RJ jack (the wires would be blue in a Cat 5 cable) would have been your DSL signal pair.  But GeekBoy's installer told him they couldn't do that without talking to the customer, and I personally can't dispute that.

In your shoes, I think I'd call AT&T Technical Support at 800-288-2020 and ask them what's going on with your install.  Tell them what you posted to us and see how they reply.

[sapling]

Ok, I'll give them a call after work today - thanks for the information - I also did some reading about phone wiring and I think I'd be able to rewire the jack or swap out the pairs in the NID if the issue is it's on the wrong line. Not sure if I have access to the box outside the house, will have to poke around and see where it's located.

I'm not averse to trying to rewire if it comes to that, since it sounds like I can always just put it back as it was if it doesn't work. 

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

sapling - When I first saw your post, I too was thinking about making sure you are using the correct wires within the cable. After reading it again I see another complication.

Your apartment must have an address different than the other apartment or you would not have been able to get service. But, if this were once a single family house the drop connections could be intermixed or perhaps the installer connected the wrong apartment.
I usually admire the trait to try it, but in this case I am concerned that if the two are intermixed you may disconnect service for the other apartment.

Perhaps, most self installs go just as well for U-verse as DSL, but involving the extra customer possibility adds complexity to your install.

Let us know how it works out.

[sapling]

So, I think I may have gotten lucky (or just installed it somewhat jankily but to my satisfaction).

Armed with my new knowledge about NIDs, I went exploring around the house. Discovered what looks like 2 NIDs right outside my side entrance into the basement - one of them is old and worn; the other looked suspiciously new. I opened up the new one and saw there were NO cables leaving it - just the incoming cable. It had the "test" jack area, and 4 'pairs' to connect.

This is where I think I may have cheated slightly.. and let me know if this is going to screw me up down the road - I just took my phone cable that came with the installation modem, plugged it into the test jack, threaded it through my doorway, and put my modem on the shelf next to the door. Plugged it in, everything works great. I closed the NID back up and screwed it shut.

I'm assuming since an entirely new NID was installed for Uverse, it's being treated as a second line and the other apartment wasn't disconnected? I didn't touch the old NID which had wires running out to somewhere. The landlord lives upstairs, so I can see him being somewhat displeased if I've inadvertently cut off his service, but I'm assuming they wouldn't have let me 'order over' an existing active line if it were going to do that?

As for the second address question - the basement apartment doesn't have a true second address, but when I was looking it up in the Uverse system I entered just the main street address, and it corrected me with "Did you mean <Address> or did you mean <Address> BASEMENT?" I chose Basement. So at least in the AT&T system it appears to be two separate addresses, even prior to the installation, though I don't think the post office has it as two separate addresses, and there is only 1 mailbox / street number.

Anyway I'm happy - ordered the 12 meg service, getting 11.5 mbps when I test the line. Fastest internet I've ever had! I'd like to upgrade to 24 mbps if I could figure out how to do it and still get the $48 12-month special and no additional installation fee, but it doesn't look like that's being offered online - so maybe I'll hold off and try again in a couple months. Or if anyone knows a way, let me know.

Thanks again for your help and patience.. I was a bit grumpy earlier (I am a bit of an internet addict, I admit), but I'm pretty happy now that it's working.

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

sapling - Good for you for figuring it out.
It does look like they installed a new NID to feed your "second address". The att computers were happy & the installer did it correctly.

It is up to you to wire it from the NID. Which you did correctly. That jack is for access to the house. When you unplug the wire going into the house it provides test access at that point.

You probably should find the place through the NID to drill a hole for the wire to enter the house. But, you would want to work with the landlord on that.

Also, you probably want to get a longer wire. If you get one with RJ-11 ends you just replace the shorter one. It might be a good idea to get a better wire, like this one - http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=rj-11%20data%20cable&origkw=rj-11+data+cable&...

Probably not worth messing with the existing jack wiring - that probably goes to the other NID - That would involve all the complication previously described. THe wire end would have to be moved to the new NID & connected correctly.

Also, it might be a good idea to label the two NIDS showing which apartment it is for & which circuit.